the judas persevered.
waging a war out of time and space, they chased the enemy, dying to prevent the damnable purpose.
within the white place, a distress signal was found.
[commander? a beacon from judas gethsemane magdalene. priority channel.]
“What’s she say?”
[enemy sighted and tracked on direct alpha purpose transit. the purpose nears completion.]
“Harvest?”
hatred. knowledge of past failures.
[they’re apparently ready to synthesize the upload generators.]
contemplation. realization.
“Open channel to Judas Simon.”
[done.]
((hannah?))
“Simon, we’ve identified and tracked Enemy vessels on a direct-Alpha run. Is your fleet prepared for combat?”
((we’re at 90%, but no one’s been able to find maggie—))
“She’s already there. We sent her on a recon run in Fourteen-seven. She found a nest, and they’re ready to complete their mission.”
((fourteen-seven? that’s five thousand years earlier than we—))
“Take your fleet and intercept the Enemy before they can make it to the Alpha Point. Find them in transit and destroy them. It will buy us a little more time to gather our other forces for the final assault.”
((and magdalene?))
Indeed. And Magdalene..?
“She’s been wounded. Her beacon was very weak. It wouldn’t be a good idea to—”
((wounded? how seriously is she hurt? can she make it back?))
“Simon, we don’t have time for this.”
((i’ll
“Fine. Go get her, but be careful. We don’t know how many Enemy that When holds.”
((yes, commander.))
“Then it’s set. Engage Shadow drives.”
Within the white place, she watched as Simon’s forces faded from existence.
“And there she goes.”
The ASCL Freeman Teller drifted with increasing speed beneath the surface of the lake. The lifecraft stood by and watched as their mothership went vertical and slid into the depths. Spotlights swept the area, and the small vessels surveyed the dark waters for overboard seamen.
“How many?”
“Still over thirty men unaccounted for, sir. Tracking chips aren’t responding.”
“Keep looking. How far away is the Indomitable?”
“Closing quickly. That’s her to the northeast.”
Across the expanse of the lake, they observed a fast-approaching vessel. It was the same model as the Teller, one of the Containment Line. The Indomitable cruised quickly and quietly up to the impact zone, and flooded the area with light. The deck guns swept back and forth in readiness.
The Indomitable would find and destroy whatever had sunk the Teller.
Harkness. 2:30 A.M.
The eight dark figures that emerged from the lake surfaced half a mile down the beach from where Buddy McClure’s broken body lay. They were cold, wet, exhausted, and confused, now trapped on a world that was thousands of years younger than the worlds they had known.
In silence, they faced the lake as Reynald activated a small control panel on his forearm. A bright flash came from within the lake as a miniature quantum singularity engulfed the lifeboat.
At first, it appeared that nothing had happened. The vessel that had come to the aid of the sunken ship was still visible out there, but then, for an impossible instant, the very surface of the lake seemed to bulge outward and contract back in. With an ear-splitting roar, the explosion rose to the surface, incinerating the Indomitable and the lifecraft of the Freeman Teller almost immediately. There was little debris, and even that was quickly pulled under. The surface of the lake returned to its original placid state.
The men turned from the lake and began to walk.
“We’ll scan for Magdalene.” Reynald did not sound hopeful. “I saw her come down behind us. She can’t be that far away.”
“Do you think anyone saw us come down?”
“I don’t know, but someone is bound to be suspicious when that boat doesn’t report in. Let’s get as far away as possible.”
They slid into the night.
“Has the Containment Line reported anything?”
“Nothing, sir. We have five vessels closing on the site.”
“How could something have slipped through the Line?”
“Mr. President, we haven’t ruled out a mechanical failure. It could just be —”
Jennings slammed his fist to the table, covered with satellite reports and faxes. “Two of our ships are gone, Cervera. That’s over three hundred of our sailors. This isn’t an accident. Someone is attacking us.”
“But—”
“No buts. I want that area secured. Tell the Harkness Chickenshit Rescue Squad to pull back from the site. Have the Line close in. I want the whole damned county sealed off. No one gets into or out of Harkness, Michigan. That site has to be secure.”
“Mr. President—”
“Cervera, would you like me to relieve you of duty? God knows I’ve wanted to for years. Don’t give me a reason to now, Tony, when I need your cooperation the most. Someone’s trying to start a goddamned war out there. Secure the area.”
“Yes, sir.”
Jennings stood in front of the globe projection.
“This is getting too damned out of hand.”
Cervera glared coldly at the president.
“Yes. Sir.”
Magdalene:
She felt the Shadow tech sweep over her, and despaired as she calculated the distance to Reynald. The last survivors of her crew had crashed half a world away.
She activated a homing beacon.
A silent alarm. A dull thudding pain. Waning energy.
Magdalene retreated to the black of sleep.
Reynald sighed.
The homing beacon was so far away, so faint. It was also emitting an erratic pulse, quiet and full of static. Magdalene had been badly damaged in her landing, apparently.
“Maggie’s on the other side of the planet. We’ll have to find a way to get to her, and quickly. She’s fading fast.”
He watched hope drop from the faces of his troops.
“We have to get off this rock before it’s too late.”
the black: a heap of shattered images
RUSE INITIATED. THE PREY IS ANTICIPATED.
a smile from a mouth without substance
THE ANNOYANCE WILL BE DESTROYED.
THE PURPOSE WILL BE COMPLETED.
